My place is in shadow
by Nanook
Summary: What happens after X-Treme Measures, when Spyke joins the morlocks? Since those darned scriptwriters seem to have forgotten all about him, I'll continue.


  


  


  


**Author's Notes**

Disclaimer  
If you've seen it before (and you probably have) it's not mine. 

Timeline  
Happens after X-Treme Measures, Episode 6, Season 3 of X-men Evolution but may not follow the continuity after that episode. 

The Morlocks: Character notes  
_Brief history_: Using Caliban's mutant tracking ability, Callisto founded the Morlocks (named after the rulers of the Netherworld in H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. Most of them have inhuman appearances, and therefore chose to live a life in hiding below the surface. They steal supplies from the surface world, and occasionally kidnap children to bolster their ranks. 

_Callisto_: Leader of the Morlocks. Possesses enhanced senses and fighting ability, as well as accelerated healing. She wears a black eye-patch over her right eye. 

_Caliban_: Mutant ability to detect and track other mutants, enhanced strength, empathy. 

_Lucid_: Created specifically for the X-men cartoon. Has the ability to see through solid objects 

_Facade_: Created specifically for the X-men cartoon. Has the ability to camouflage himself. 

_Scaleface_: A young girl who can shapeshift into a giant lizard. 

_Sunder_: Possesses superhuman strength and durability. 

_Leech_: A young mutant who can cancel out the powers of others within a limited range. 

_Healer_: Has the ability to heal the wounds of others (but not illnesses) 

That's it for now. 

***

The dim moonlight shone down on the dark figure climbing over the tall gate. With amazing skill, the intruder leapt over and landed on his skateboard, heading into the building past the automated defenses with perfect ease. 

He didn't take a long time inside, emerging from the place that had once offered him comfort and acceptance. But things changed, and now the Institute was no longer his refuge. Evan Daniels slung his bag over his shoulder, he'd returned only to collect his belongings and wrap up several things. That done, he turned back the way he had come, back over the gate and down the lane. 

The "Spykeman" was gone. Gone to a new life with the Morlocks, gone to find his place, not as a superhero or a freak, but just simply as Evan Daniels. It was all he had to offer. 

***

Lifting the cover of the pothole, the entrance into the underground world of the Morlocks, he cast a last, lingering gaze at the outside world. It was his world; at least, it had been. Now, their world was his, their people his family. A family like him, a family that understood. 

He looked back no more, turning his back on his world, entering a new one. A world of hiding, where darkness ruled over light. Where humanity was just a word and sunlight just a legend of the long-forgotten world above them. 

It had become his world. 

***

"Callisto. He is here." 

The Morlock leader turned her single uncovered eye towards Evan as he approached, walking through "the Alley", which was the main, largest underground tunnel of the many under the city. 

"You have returned." 

"Yeah...I guess I'm one of you now." 

"Welcome to the Morlocks, Evan," she nodded, indicating the crowd behind her. A crowd of many faces, some hideous, some normal-looking, of all sizes great and small, from young children to old, bound together by the rejection they had all received from the surface world. Rejection he had experienced, time and again. 

He was connected to them as they were to him, in so many ways he could only just touch upon. 

They were his people, his family, now. 

A small tug at his shirt, and he smiled down at a small green Morlock child, whose cerebellum was much too big for his small body. He looked and was surprised to find that his spikes had retracted into his body without his knowledge. 

"Leech blocks your powers. With him close by, your mutant ability is effectively neutralized," Evan turned to face the speaker, a young girl clad in red. "I'm Scaleface, and welcome." 

"Come...?" the little mutant stared up at him with pleading white eyes, tugging on his hand. 

"C'mon Leech, go show him around," Scaleface nodded as Leech dragged him towards one of the adjacent tunnels. 

It felt right...among these outcasts like himself. People who saw him as one of themselves, and not any more or less human. 

It was home. 

***

**Dear Aunty-O, **

I'm sorry I had to leave. Things just changed so fast, and I can't stay at the Institute any longer. I don't fit in there like I did before. Please don't worry about me, or come looking for me. I'm safe below with the Morlocks. They're good people, my people now. 

That incident with Power-8 and the Morlocks helped me see what I didn't before. That my place is in the shadows and yours is in the light. That's why I'm not an X-man, and that's why I can never be. 

Love,  
Evan 

Storm sat silently re-reading the letter for the thousandth time. Her face was expressionless, and even though her heart bled, the tears wouldn't come. She had failed her sister, her nephew and herself, and the grief in her heart was one that refused to go away. 

Once she had been a goddess, able to do all that was expected of her. She brought rain; she brought happiness to the village. Things had been much simpler then, better. But still she had to realize that it was not possible to fix everything, to bring smiles to everyone. That she was only human. 

_(where is your power now, goddess?)_

Not all promises could be kept, and that facts pained her heart. If nothing else, she should be there for her nephew, blood of her blood, flesh of her flesh. But she had failed him, when she had promised to be there. 

_(you were there for me Evan…let me be there for you)_

Hollow words, they seemed now. 

This time, the tears did fall. 

***

Logan stalked the hallway, having just narrowly escaped another driving lesson with Kitty. This time the victim was Blueboy McCoy, the way-too-soft-on-the-kids Beast. Which was probably why this was the _third_ time he was riding with Kitty, while the rest of the licensed drivers had gone no more than once each. 

He popped the top off a beer can and downed it as he walked through the mansion to his room. Then he smelt it. The slightly salty scent of tears, and the desperation that accompanied it. He'd seen it all before, except this time it was coming from Storm's room. 

Now he was reasonably concerned. In all the years he'd been at Xavier's, he'd never seen Ororo cry, or display any negative emotion whatsoever. And he should know, he was one of her closest friends, the two of them being the few instructors in a mansion crawling with teenagers. 

Quietly, he opened the door and entered the room. Ororo was sitting on the bed, her back towards him, soft sobs shaking her body. 

"'Ro?" 

His only response was a muffled sob. 

Sitting beside her, Wolverine put his are around Ororo, cradling her to his chest until her breathing slowed and her sobs had faded away into the dark. No words passed between them; none were needed. He knew her grief, and she accepted his comfort. It was all that mattered, at least for now. 

  
  



End file.
